In 1605 Guy Fawkes with other Roman Catholic conspirators, plotted to assassinate King James 1 and his Parliament.
They planned to do this by blowing up the Palace of Westminster, which is now known as the Houses of Parliament,
using 36 barrels of gunpowder.

November the 5th was the day that the King proposed to open Parliament and all the members of Parliament were sure
to be there too.

The conspirators rented the house, which adjoined the House of Lords and made a tunnel from the cellar into the
vault of the House of Lords. Over a period of one year all the barrels of gunpowder were secreted there and
covered with piles of firewood.

The conspirators were betrayed when a Catholic Lord received an anonymous letter telling the plan. Immediately
on the 4th November a search was made of the cellars and the vault. Guy Fawkes was discovered with his tinderbox
and matches at the ready.

After the event the church ordered prayers of thanksgiving, which were later held on the 5th of November every
year. Gradually as the years drifted by bonfires became popular with a traditional 'Guy' on top and then
fireworks.